Slumber
by Darst
Summary: The cons celebrate the fall of Iacon. Everyone is having fun and Megatron's fun today would be make Soundwave lose his self-control. He's not prepared for any of the revelations that follow. Loosely based on TFP with other contuinities characters present.
1. Chapter 1

'And the walls came tumbling down!' - exclaimed Starscream, saluting himself with a cube of high-grade. Cons were celebrating. The towers of Iacon stood no more.

The seeker had been high on battle and destruction when this party started, now he was positively wasted on high-grade and probably even virus plugs. That didn't stop him from singing the War Hymn of Vos. His trinemates, as plastered as their leader sang along out of sync. The sound was awful, it screeched and scrambled the audials, but no one seemed to mind.

Megatron smiled his little evil smile watching his officers indulge themselves. He'd give them this cycle - they had earned it.

The warlord was rather drunk himself, though he still posessed enough self-control (and dignity) not to make anything stupid. His reputation would hardly get damaged by whatever stunt he may pull under stimulation, but he led this army by example and that meant he had to maintain control.

Speaking of control. Megatron wasn't the only one to restrain himself from too much booze this evening. Vermillion optics focused on Chief Communication's officer, who strolled from the energon dispenser with a fresh cube in his servo returning to his usuale place beside Megatron. This was only the second cube for the spy (which was far behind the rest of celebrating company) and his pace was as confident as ever as he maneuvered between dancing and mingling cons.

'Soundwave!' Breakdown reached for the passing officer with a friendly, though somewhat exaggerated gesture, seemingly wanting to give him a hug and Soundwave shifted away for the sweep, sidestepping the ex-wrecker smoothly. Not a drop of energon was spilled.

Megatron wondered what Soundwave would look like when he relinquished that control and made a silent decision to make his spy lose it today. It may not be the wisest decision, but he was drunk and didn't they just finally destroy Iaconian resistance?

Megatron shook his own cube a little stirring the energon within. Soundwave sat down beside him. 'My lord?' - the spy asked sensing his superior attention on himself.

'You puzzle me' - Megatron said, taking a sip of his en. Soundwave waited for him to continue, but the warlord gestured at the untouched cube in his hands, indicating that he should drink. Soundwave retracted his visor to make a gulp of en, then slid it back down. It wasn't like he was repulsive to drinking in front of the rest of cons, it was more out of habit than anything else that he kept his face hidded now. Besides, he found that it worked for his reputation.  
'Details: appreciated' - he said, accepting the light tone offered by his superior.

'I saw Blitzwing's report' - and Megatron took another sip from his cube. He made sure his tone remained neutral and unjudging not to alert Soundwave, but the Communication's Chief tensed anyway. He had a close call this time, getting cornered by four of Iaconian elite guard and the triple changer's timing was accurate. Of course Blitzwing had to stress how useful or maybe even vital his aid to his superior officer had been today.

Again, Megatron paused, looking at Soundwave expectantly and the navy mech obediently sipped at his cube.

'Situations of this sort: hard to be avoided' - the spy said carefully.

'True' - Megatron paused before pretending to take another sip and this time Soundwave followed suit. 'Could have happened to anyone' - he turned to watch the celebrations - everything went on its course. He spotted what looked like virus chips switching hands and narrowed his gaze. Virus plugs weren't allowed for cons under normal circumstances and both dealing and applying them was punishable, but he would turn a blind eye toward this just this once. Otherwise he would have to chew out Starscream for his SIC obviously plugged at least one, and that just didn't feel right at the moment.

He would make sure that anyone who turned to medbay the next cycle for virus purge would spend a nice shift in anti-contamination quarantine in the prison brig. That should be enough to ensure they didn't mistake this one-time slip for a new rule.

'Of course' - Megatron said, stil eyeing the cheerful crowd, 'I wouldn't need aid if I were in this situation' - he turned to throw a glance as his TIC, tilting his cube a little in a short tost before making another sip that was way smaller than it seemed.

Nonplussed, Soundwave mirrored his gesture and drank too.  
'Megatron: superior?' - he responded, unsure where this conversation was going.

'Again: true. But I wonder...' - a sip, a glare, a sip on Soundwave's part, - 'maybe you're getting rusty. Once you could hold your ground against me... now it doesn't seem so'

He had to hide a grin now, so amusing Soundwave's subtle reaction were. A side observer would not pick it up probably, but Megatron spent quite a lot of time around the secretive con and he knew him well enough to see wounded pride and agitation behind a smooth motion that brought the cube up to Soundwave's face - this time without a prompt from his comrade.

'Asessment: not accurate. Battle protocols: fully operational. However, my abilities: best used off the battleground'

'Oh, I'm aware of that' - Megatron took another sip and came to realise he needed to refill. 'I'm not questioning your abilities, I'm saying you were just _lucky_ that _one_time.'

That earned him a pause, then Soundwave finished off his drink in one big gulp, set the empty cube down with a distinct clang and rose from his seat. Megatron silently counted one point in his favor. 'Luck: not part of this equasion. Challenge: accepted'.

Megatron grinned, measuring his officer from knee joints up, still sitting. A lazy smile played on his face. This little show was getting spectators. For what Megatron had planned, spectators were a hindrance.

'A challenge? No way. You are too useful for the Cause to offline over some stupid challenge' and he added via comm /No need to make a show of this...and get me a refill while you're at it/

/Megatron: big talk/ - Soundwave switched to internal comm too, catching the warlord's drift and obediently went to fetch the booze. Megatron's gaze followed the TIC up to energon dispensor. From what the warlord read off Soundwave, the TIC swallowed the bait, the hook and half of the line.

/Prove me wrong, then.../ - Megatron responded, not avert to teasing.

On the way back with a new load of en, Soundwave nearly collided with Starscream who stepped on unsteady peds into his path. Megatron watched the interaction between his two rival lieutenants. With Soundwave being... well, Soundwave, and Starscream being both drunk and faced away from him, he could only guess what was being said.

It was hardly of significance, anyway, but it was a timely distraction. Megatron rose and went out.

He was halfway to the training grounds, his steps resounding in empty hallways, when Soundwave got rid of clingy Starscream and discovered his absence. The decepticon base looked deserted, everyone off duty celebrating.

/My lord?/ - the TIC's transmission carried over his confusion.  
/Come to training grounds. Bring the high-grade/

He didn't have to wait for too long.


	2. Chapter 2

The Communications officer took in the hall before approaching the lone figure of his leader that stood unmoving in the center of the combat circle. The place was deserted.

He put two cubes of high grade on the floor just beyond the circle and walked on toward his superior.

Megatron watched him approach, noting the subtle stiffness of his movements. The TIC may not have been drunk enough yet, but he could probably feel the effect of overcharging already.

Training grounds in Darkmount were nothing like Kaon's Arena pit, there were no seats for the cheering mob, no cells or bars, no dissection room to salvage spare parts from fresh desactives. No blinding lights, no siren, no grooves to drain the spilled energon from the battleground. Where the Pit was about death, less often glorious than not, the training grounds were about preserving lives of the warriors by honing their skills in fierce, but friendly fights.

The circle itself was the only constant between the two... not two places but rather two epochs, two different societies even.  
However, as Soundwave strolled toward him across the rough flooring, a feeling of deja vu filled Megatron's neuro net.

It was as if he was back at that historical cycle when both his only stalemate on the Arena and his first follower happened.  
Call it booze talk, but it was glorious to fall back to that fateful orn now, at the point when the war had passed its last turning point and would be nothing more than hunt for survivors from now on.

Megatron dived sparkfirst into the memory, letting himself hear the cheering and see the blinding spotlights as he shifted smoothly into active defence stance, just as he had then.  
Immediately his adversary assumed a mirroring stance, copying his movements... just as he had then. For a split click two images co-existed inside Megatron's mind, then they merged together and he wasn't sure anymore, which of the two was the reality. Not that it mattered.

He lunged forward. Soundwave sidestepped the attack and spun our of reach. The steel jet changed direction with astonishing speed, digging a heel into the floor and beating sparks out of it and surged after his opponent.

Four more times Soundwave managed to completely evade him before first blow connected, only to get blocked by a sturdy wing. So far, their fight was an exact copy of the one they had back then.

Megatron didn't intend to spend four orns trying to get past those defences this time. He switched the tactic.

Immediately the spell of deja vu let go, revealing the reality, but Soundwave continued to evade his blows, resorting to hard blocks occasionally, but never switching to offensive. For a side observer it probably looked like an exotic dance they had going with all this constant repositioning and lunges.

For Megatron it looked like his trusted follower was returning him his own teasing. Jet engines revved as the warlord increased the speed of his movements. High-grade had its pluses - not only did the booze overcharge the neuro net, it made for more power to the engines once they had warmed enough. And they were heating up fast.

Megatron's sudden surge in speed got him past Soundwave's defences and his fist connected to the spy's shoulder with a loud bang. Soundwave's visor flashed bright, as the mech went with the blow, falling right. There would be a dent, but otherwise there was no damage. As Soundwave fell sideward, he half-transformed his wing and span, swiping out at the knee level. This bang was as loud as the previous one. Megatron fell, peds swept from under him, but managed to group and roll aside.

On their peds again, they circled each other. The warlord was grinning like a maniac, feeling battle rush merge with the booze heat in his systems. He switched the direction of circling abruptly and that brought him one step closer to his evasive opponent as Soundwave obviously failed to anticipate this move.

'Not so easy to read my mind when I'm drunk?' - Megatron asked and aimed a strike at the telepath' leading ped. The kick connected, but again, Soundwave used inertia to spin around and swing a wing aiming for Megatron's head. The warlord ducked under it.

'Telepathy: not a combat advantage' - Soundwave responded, refusing to get himself riled up by a subtle accusation of breaking the unspoken rule to never - ever! - look into Megatron's processor. He had explained many times about the shortcomings and limitation of his intimidating ability and Megatron knew perfectly well that it was too slow to provide a real edge in battle, even if one would assume that coherent thinking was involved in melee. Which it was not. Automated battle protocols, intuitive ajustment modules, threat assessment didn't require conscious attention - sometimes a mech would continue fighting on sheer automatics even after half of his main processing unit was torn off. Sometimes he would even win.

Vermillion optics flashed brighter and the warlord's grin widened. He unleashed a series of quick blows, each of them meticulously blocked by the spy, even as Soundwave was forced back under the might of these blows. Was Megatron teasing him? Really?!

The Communications Officer finally switched to offensive and for nearly a click the two mechs in the circle turned into a hurricane of steel. Naturally, Megatron wouldn't back down.

For a side observer it might have looked rather vicious, but even though the combatants didn't seem to hold back, none of the heavy duty weaponry came into play. Megatron not only didn't power up his cannon, he hadn't even brought his blade out, and Soundwave's 'hear-your-death' devices remained offline too.

Smell of warmed metal filled the air. They didn't slow down. Both were venting heavily via fans and intakes to drive excess heat off their bodies. Personally, Megatron believed using high-grade for engine overdrive was preferable to scrambling logs and glitching your processor into seeing white turbofoxes. Felt better, too.

The air around them seemed to shimmer with heat haze when Soundwave finally felt desperate enough to bring a feeler into the fray. Or maybe he planned to do it all along and was just waiting for an opening?

The opening turned into a trap as the big steel hand caught the appendage on the withdraw and swiftly yanked its owner forward. Soundwave stumbled, losing the balance and was quickly thrown off his peds. He crushed the sharp edge of his wing against the hand holding his feeler, but without a decent foothold the strike lacked power and didn't dislodge the grip.  
Megatron tossed him to the floor and straddled the slender chassis, effectively pinning his agile opponent. The fusion cannon powered up, its eye looking straight into the faceless visor.

'And that's when you lose' - Megatron said somewhat solemnly, the excitement of the battle still shining in his optics.  
The visor clicked open and Soundwave stared back at him, his expression bizarre. The spy tilted his head down, disregarding the charged up cannon that looked him straight in the face, and his gaze glided from Megatron's face lower down his chest.. The warlord suddenly became extremely aware of every smallest piece of Soundwave's warm plating that pressed against his armor.  
'Assessment: inaccurate' - Soundwave's voice was crisp on the edges as he said it and Megatron followed his gaze.

The spy's second feeler was connected firmly to Megatron's armor right under his spark. 'And that's when you lose' - Megatron's own voice said back to him along with a weak electric zap that Soundwave ...well, zapped him with.

The steel chassis jerked slightly, but the charge had been only strong enough to make a point. Megatron chuckled 'hnn'. The purple light of his arm cannon disappeared and then the crushing weight was lifted off Soundwave's midriff as his opponent rose to his peds and turned away.

'Let's drink' - the warlord threw over the shoulder as he went for the cubes, perfectly aware of the deafening silence behind him as Soundwave's cooling fans clicked off.


	3. Chapter 3

Soundwave stared at his lord's retreating back. What had just happened? The spy was overcharged from both booze and fight (and perhaps not just from that) and his superior cryptic behavior demanded a clear and cool processor to decode. A moment back he was nearly sure that this situation was heading in berth direction on top speed... Illogical as it was.

He's seen it in Megatron's brief expression shift and it left him... well, overcharged. Withdrawing now was so confusing! Of course, battle routines aside, Megatron had been difficult to predict even without the high-grade clouding both their judgment. Being _the _ Decepticon and all, this situation could as well be heading towards the smelter, for all Soundwave knew.

The spy lingered on the ground for few moments to clear his processor from emotional fog and re-establish his control. Today's near-failure required him to reclaim his superiority and that he just did. Case closed. Soundwave superior. All excessive neuro input was irrelevant. Drop it. Cool down.

Megatron could nearly feel what was going through his TIC's mind. A small evil smile flashed across his face plates. Two points for the warlord.

However, despite the whole matter being a decoy to toy with Soundwave's self-control and show him once again who really was in control here, Megatron felt suspicion stir in him. He didn't expect the communication's specialist to perform this well. What was that with the autobots then? Even if Blitzwing did exaggerate a little - which was understandable, - Soundwave didn't deny. Megatron sensed he was on to something here. Was Soundwave sympathizing the autobots? The spy didn't give him a single reason to doubt his loyalty up until now - but then, maybe he was just that good. Megatron had already suffered consequences of being too easy on trusting. He was still dealing with one stubborn autobot consequence.

A steel hand closed on the cube. He sensed Soundwave stop behind his left shoulder which was his usual place. It would be most unfortunate indeed if he had to kill him.

Turning swiftly, the warlord rose the cube to his intake and gestured with his free hand to the second cube beside his ped. He also moved half a step back allowing the slender mech to reach for the high-grade, but only barely so. Soundwave's wing nearly scrapped the steel armor and under Megatron's intent gaze the spy's fans clicked into charge again. He stilled them, snatched the cube and hastily stepped back.

'So', - Megatron said breaking the spell of awkward, 'obviously, you keep your mechanisms well oiled' - that might have sounded a little suggestive but the warlord didn't care.  
Soundwave inclined his helm 'affirmative'.

Megatron sat down on a low rampart and after a short hesitation, his companion sat beside him. For few clicks they were just sitting, drinking their high-grade. Megatron wasn't sure how and if he should press the issue that bothered him. Soundwave was waiting patiently. Looked like smelter was still closer than the... alternative.

Finally Megatron ex-vented and half-turned to his companion, raising the cube in a toast. 'To our victory' - he said, saluting and Soundwave echoed that.

'Did you look through the footage of Alpha Trion's demise already?'  
Soundwave nodded, instantly shifting into business mode. 'The mech was oddly calm. He might have planned something. Didn't look defeated... didn't ask for his life'  
Megatron chuckled 'Of course he was plotting! It doesn't matter. It's even better if he was calm. Make him look paralyzed with fear, can you?'

'As you command, Megatron. Footage: will be ready by next shift' - Soundwave's visor retracted again so the mech could drink and then clicked back down.

The warlord cast him a sidelong glance: 'You constant clicking is irritating. There's no one here. Stop it.'

Soundwave retracted his visor without a word and drank again. His face remained open. In silence the sound of a security camera turning to have a better angle at them got them both looking up at the device.

'Do you not have control over your department? ' Megatron said heavily.  
'My apologies. It's Rumble'. Soundwave looked distant for a short while, using internal comm to scold his cassette. The cam turned away. Then it even switched off.

Megatron regarded his cube, then the one in Soundwave's servo. His was half-empty, while the spy's had barely started his.

'So tell me, Soundwave, how is it that you can stand up to me and yet get a beating from some autobot rookies?' - Megatron made sure to phrase in conversationally, but his keen eye still picked up a moment of tension in the other's composure. Soundwave lowered his helm, hesitating on how best to answer this as everything in his experience told him that despite Megatron's laid back manners he's just entered a treacherous ground. But before the spy manage to phrase his answer, the warlord added: 'Are you a sympathizer?'

The helm snapped back up and the spy's crimson optics stared at his lord in an astonished disbelief. 'No! Iaconian Elite's battle protocols: unfamiliar, hard to counter'  
Megatron narrowed his optics: 'Whereas mine are familiar, is that what you're saying? That may explain today, but doesn't explain back then. What is it you're not telling me?'

Soundwave faceplates shifted into a haunted expression. He looked a little like a turbofox that was chasing a glitchmouse only to find out the glithmouse was a scraplet scout. Megatron doubted his words, yet he was trying talk it out instead of forcing the answers out of his TIC and that must be because he trusted him, even if his current question implied he doubted his words.

Soundwave had always acted in Megatron and the Cause best interest. Megatron watched intently a swift and subtle shifting of expressions. The spy was so used to covering his face plates that he didn't have much control over his expressions. He was an open book to read.

'Megatron battle protocols: familiar now, familiar before.' the navy mech finally said and drank eagerly from his cube as if he wanted to wash these words away.  
'How?' - the warlord ex-vented, his processor straining to redefine everything he knew about his presumably loyal spy over the long period that they'd spent side by side.

Soundwave shook his helm lightly 'This information: of no significance to the cause and potentially harmful'.  
'As my Chief Communications Officer and my Third in Command, it is your duty to gather and relay information when I require it, not judge its significance.'  
'As your loyal... ' Soundwave was searching for a term. He didn't dare to use 'friend', he lacked other terms, finally he settled for 'as a loyal Decepticon I must warn you about potential danger'.  
Megatron didn't attempt to hide his impatience: 'You did, now out with it before I decide a neuro-cortical patch is in order'.  
Soundwave took a big gulp from his cube, trying to find courage in overcharging fuel and murmured. 'Soundwave and Megatron: acquainted long before Arena.' He met the warlord' confused stare with clear and honest optics: 'I knew you before'  
Megatron raised a brow. He was sure there, in the Pit, they'd met for the first time. 'Before what?'  
'Your total personality wipe'.


	4. Chapter 4

'Come again?!' - Megatron spoke slowly and in deceptively soft voice but it would be better if he yelled. Soundwave tensed and made himself not to retaliate when the next moment Megatron's big hand closed on his neck cabling, squeezing with enough force to clog energon circulation. The warlord surged forward, and crushed Soundwave's back against the rampart they were so peacefully sitting upon a breem back. Soundwave made no attempt to free himself.

'What makes you think for a moment that you can feed me such a feeble lie?!' - the steely gladiator hissed dangerously, looming over his subject.

Soundwave's optics dimmed a little and he answered via comm and even that appeared strained as his processor registered malfunction in energon supply /Soundwave: loyal. This: truth/

'Prove it!' - the warlord growled.

Slowly, as un-threatening as he could in face of the steel grip that was crushing his fueling system, Soundwave brought up a servo and tapped his digit lightly against the back of Megatron's hand. Megatron eyed him intently before his palm relaxed and let go. He sat back. The spy sat up.

'Soundwave's story as told at first meeting: incredible, no proof given. Proving: never required. Your faith in me: why?'

'Your story was too useful, it didn't matter if it was a lie' - Megatron said reluctantly. It wasn't exactly true. He did believe Soundwave.

'False. Your belief: essential for the uprising. Your faith: driving them... drives us still. Your trust in me: from the spark. Your spark recognized me when you didn't. How many times have you trusted without any reason to?'

Megatron scowled at him but he felt more relaxed. Whatever this was, it didn't look like treason. He would hear this nonsense out and then decide. If Soundwave wanted to betray him, was plotting against him, he would have come up with a far more credible story. The warlord looked for his cube and found it surprisingly whole on the floor. He reached for it and took a sip.

'What's your point?'

Soundwave was less lucky - his booze was now a brightly colored pool on the tiles. The spy sighed softly before saying 'A space jet in the mines? illogical. Underground flyer: functional, useful? Reasons for elaborate battle protocols in a miner: non-existent. Joints: flexible and durable beyond requirements. Threat assessment: extensive. Quantum processors: sufficient for commanding armies. This for mines? Overkill. Megatron: old'

Megatron snorted 'that is hardly news!'

'False. Megatron: older than you believe. This: not your first war'

Megatron was refraining from any reaction, and that cued Soundwave to continue talking. The warlord's face plates shifted into an expression of neutral attention and doubt and that looked uncharacteristic on a warlord known to never hesitate.

'Mines: not your function. Spark: never adjusted, sought to reclaim it's fate. Megatron's choice of designation: not by chance.'

'I chose it. I chose the name of a past hero Prime because I sensed my destiny was as great' - To his dismay, Megatron found that he was trying to defend against Soundwave's incredible theory, and that meant that he was starting to take it seriously.

'Designation 'Megatron': not in the Covenant of the Primes. Your choice: your own name. Hero of the past: significance of the past, true. Before-the-wipe-Megatron: earned to be called that'. Megatron grunted and took a sip.

'What is your version of my function then?'

'Soundwave's: not a version. Soundwave: first acquainted with Megatron in the space program. Megatron's function: mission security, navigation, survival. Megatron then: already a war veteran. Rumored to survive the quintesson capture. Commissioned to space program. Space program shut down, space mecha disappeared. Presumed deactivated at the time. Assessment: deemed wrong upon meeting Megatron at the Arena. Meeting: unexpected. Signs of recognition: absent. Personality: changed. ' Soundwave hesitated a split click before admitting: 'Signs of personality wipe: discovered by telepathy'.

Megatron's optics narrowed. He suspected being scanned, he resented being scanned, he had made his feelings very clear about that.

'It was once only' - Soundwave added hastily, reading his expression correctly, -'at the very beginning. Ensuring: essential at the time'

Megatron decided to leave it for now. 'Suppose it is true... Has it never occurred to you to tell me this? If there was something that can be used against me, I had to know.'

'This information: of no significance to the Cause. Distress: it's only gain. Life lost: impossible to recover' - with the last phrase the spy's optics flashed brighter, face plates twisted slightly. Megatron realised, it wasn't just his life he was talking about.

Soundwave's gaze shifted to his ruined energon on the floor, then back to the warlord. The spy was trembling ever so lightly and that, Megatron knew by experience, meant that he was on a verge of loosing control over his emotions. Megatron wanted this to happen tonight for his sheer entertainment, but now it wouldn't be his accomplishment and given the source of emotional charge, it would hardly be pretty.

Regardless, if what Soundwave was telling him was true or not, the spy sure took it very seriously. It had been true to him. He needed to get him drunk now for therapeutic reasons - dumb his emotional net, purge the overflown stacks, switch his mind to something else.

Acting out the first idea that flashed through his mind, the warlord finished his cube in one gulp and quickly leaned into Soundwave's personal space to crush their mouths together. The spy was caught off-guard as he started to say something right this very moment and Megatron poured his last gulp of high-grade into his open mouth. Steel hands closed on navy wing and the back of the navy helm, securing the mech in place as the ex-gladiator force fed him the high-grade mixed with his own processing fluids.  
After the first shock passed, Soundwave whimpered softly and returned the kiss eagerly, optics offline and the whole chassis starting to noticeably shake now. The high-grade was consumed quickly, it's charge adding to wild emotions that already scrambled the telepath's emotional processor. Soundwave spasmed, arching back, optics flashing and offlining again, as the mech overloaded.

Megatron held him through this, petting the chest armor soothingly.

It took the spy a few moments to recover and online all of his periphery. As he assessed his position and the hands that were still petting him absentmindedly, he straightened in a flash of shocked realisation of what he just did.

'Apologies, my lord. Soundwave's actions: inappropriate' - in control once more, he meant to move back, put a safe distance between them, but Megatron didn't relinquish his grip, holding his back with his left hand while drawing lazy circles on the navy plating and along Laserbeak's docking ports on the TICs chest with his right.

As the sensory net restored, Soundwave leaned into this caress, savoring the affection he so desperately yearned and so rarely received. He could write it off on high-grade later.

'Make them bring more of the stuff', - Megatron ordered and it was clear without clarifying what he meant by 'stuff', - 'I want to hear all of it'

'Why?' - Soundwave asked, even as he was already passing the order via comm to his cassettes - it was better if no one other would see them here, - 'This information..'

'... is of no significance to the Cause. I know' - Megatron finished for him.


	5. Chapter 5

It wasn't until Frenzy pinged from the door and pushed in, carefully maneuvering with four cubes, each size of his arm, that Soundwave had carefully eased himself out of black-and-steel hands. Not that it had taken long for the Cassette to deliver the requested high-grade. Once the read-and-black minicon was out of the door (and earshot), Megatron broke the silence, reaching down for the top cube.

'In that previous life... were we..?'

Soundwave startled and looked back at him, optics wide with shock. 'No!' he exclaimed and then managed a more coherent answer: 'Assumption: logical, also false.' He reached for a cube himself and added with a soft chuckle 'Relations: professional at that time. Sympathy: not lost between us.'

'What changed?' - lazily asked the warlord, taking a sip.  
'You' - Soundwave answered, following his example.

Megatron didn't ask, but the question hung in the air unspoken. And Soundwave knew he would have to tell everything eventually. He just hoped, they would be high enough to forget about it all after recharge. His probability calculations showed no good coming from revealing this info, but Megatron chose to ignore his warning already and it would be inappropriate to bring that up again.

'Suggestion: get wasted and forget about it' - the Communication Officer said evenly. His hope was futile. 'Talk' - Megatron responded with finality and that was an order.

Soundwave took a sip and started: 'Historical data logs: too big to keep in databank, too dangerous to store in external archive. Initial data: erased, replaced with summary. My apologies for insufficient details. In the beginning of the Golden Era, when Cybertron prospered, Nova Prime wanted to share this prosperity with other worlds.

'The space expansion program: initiated by Prime. First space adapted alt forms: constructed. Explorers, Shuttles, Stations, Jest, Contactors...as the missions progressed outward, colonies were founded... This is common known history. Neither Megatron, nor Soundwave: active at that time. Space program mecha came across quitessons. Contact was established.

'Then war began. Space expansion on hold, mecha recruited for war. War: won hard. Senate blamed Nova Prime's ambitions for the war. But Nova never relinquished his vision. Space bridges: invented based on trophy quints technology. Lost now. With this power, uniting the galaxy: possible. Peace for all races under Cybertron' strict and just ruling.'

'Peace through tyranny' - Megatron whispered and the spy nodded before taking another gulp and going on:

'Nova: both credited for winning the war and blamed for starting it. His actions and motives: questioned. He needed to prove himself. Soundwave: barely graduated training when Nova Prime departed in search for allies. As you know, he didn't come back.  
Functionalists: gained power. Nova Prime: proclaimed traitor of Primus' Will. Altform modifications : banned. Space ventures: put on hold. Colonies loyal to Nova: cut off. Information that we, the space mecha of the expansion program, were to 'never exist' : acquired occasionally.

'Orders for mass deactivation: assumed by me. Measures were taken. Crash-landing on Luna Two: enabled to fake my demise. The space program: ceased to exist one cycle after. It started to _never have existed_. Logs and archives: corrected, erased, rewritten'  
Soundwave paused to drink some more. Megatron asked: 'Why did they spare me of all?'

Soundwave shook his head lightly, while drinking and a small droplet of energon escaped his intake at the motion. He got it with his glossa and said: 'Initial assumption of deactivation: false. Waste of potential: presumably too big for functionalists. Personality wipe: Possibility to further use the space mecha... Successfully 'returning' them to civil function: all needed proof that Nova was wrong'.

Megatron watched him and thought that he hasn't seen his comrade so relaxed and open for a long time... even perhaps since the beginning of Decepticon uprising that he started... that he started based on Soundwave's incredible information. Which he believed instantly and without hesitation. As notion turned to movement, movement turned to uprising, uprising formed an army and army became an empire... on this long and hard way each step they took made Soundwave close a little more, camp down another part of him, distance, not just from Megatron, from everything. He kept a detached observer, protected by layers and layers of filters, optics, microphones, sonars, cassettes and finally his visor when all the rest were absent. It had been highly effective, for the amount of data he had to process and processes he had to control grew constantly and he had to maintain the bigger picture. But being able to look through all this even for a short while was nice for a change. Megatron carefully avoided asking himself if he believed yet another story of Soundwave... if he asked this question, he would have to act upon the answer, and for now he preferred to just watch.

The spy continued: ' Reprogramming Explorers, Shuttles, Jets... even Stations: easy. Contactors, however: not so much. Too different. Too specialized. Hiding: nearly impossible. Decision met: reformation. Let go of specialized equipment but keep the core programming. In secret.'

Megatron hummed softly 'You had a space engine' - he said more like a statement than a question.

'Affirmative. Space travel: improbable at the time. Instead: carrier module acquired.'

'Why? So you could have your little brats?'

Soundwave turned to him and smiled broadly 'A contactor needs to contact.'

'Low profile: kept for a long time. Searching for information. Information regarding presumed mass murder: never found. The one that made this decision: never found. Senators: all guilty. The rest you know' - a soft smile on the spy's faceplate. Soundwave smiled a lot. Sometimes he smiled at things that weren't funny in the least. Looking at this smile now the warlord got an impression that it was just another layer of protection that his third in command surrounded himself with.

'No, I am clearly still under informed. What part of your story of staged energon crisis was true?'

Soundwave's expression turned serious 'Every word. Soundwave: never lies to Megatron. This information: withdrawn because of its insignificance. And potential harm.'

'Hm. So you sought revenge when you discovered that secret energon stash...I can relate to..'

'No' - and Megatron blinked at that, - 'Revenge: futile. Proving the program useful: my goal at the time. Restoration of former glory. This hope: lost by the time the real nature of crisis was discovered. Revived, when I met you on the Arena.'  
'Why, because you met one mech you didn't even like much?'

'Plural. Not singular.'

Megatron stared and Soundwave was smiling again watching the understanding shine in vermillion optics. 'Who...'

'Megatron: in possession of all information required' - the spy grinned and saluted him with the cube.

Megatron returned his gesture and found himself grinning too. A guessing game? It was so long since they last played one of those. This was definitely the high-grade influence, but he found himself willing to humor his third now. So.. who might it be?


	6. Chapter 6

System returned online one by one, booting up slowly, and the first thing he registered was a soft thrum of someone else's systems in close proximity. Before the battle protocols activated, memory kicked in and the warlord relaxed. Files surfaced in a flash. Soundwave was smiling his broad and somewhat unsettling smile and drowsily saluting him with a cube when his guess 'Blitzwing' finally hit home. Once he got hang of it, the rest was easy. Mecha, unusual for their function. Mecha with heavy armored frames and sparks strong enough to power twice the periphery they had. Mecha he was inclined to trust despite no reasons to. Misfits. His perfect rebel recruits.

'Shockwave?'  
'Yes and no. Professional area: space engineering. Part of program, not part of space crew'. Megatron nodded. Figures. What an irony, reverse engineer something he had invented in the past. And.. Astrotrain. And Blast Off. Shuttles. Jets.

'Starscream?'  
Soundwave shook his helm 'This one: new'

Megatron couldn't recall all names that were said, his logs full of omissions and timeline loopholes the high-grade created. Neither did he register when the game turned into something else. He wrecked his processor, straining to catch and decrypt loose pieces of information left in the stacks. A flashback memory of dragging his third through the door to his room, enjoying the overcharged whirl of Soundwave's uncovered optics as he whispered that he was going to 'face the spy into the recharge platform... Did he force-feed him more high-grade too?

It was one pit of a celebration.

Megatron smiled and onlined his optics. He was looking at an unusually high ceiling. Did they make it to the berth eventually? Looks like it.

'Soundwave?' he spoke softly, checking if his third was awake.  
'I must say, you didn't lie when you said this would be an experience I never had before. It's the first time I've been called another mech's name in my own berth!'

The slag?!

Megatron jumped up, battle protocols kicking in. As he landed on his peds, battle ready and cannon powered up, he realized that everything was off. He wasn't in Darkmount anymore. And the mech, looking at him in indecision whether he should take offense or turn it all into a joke, was...

'Starscream'.  
The seeker looked... different. More sleek and shiny than last night, or in fact, much better than he remembered in a long time, and they were... he threw a glance at the window – tall angular towers crowded the horizon in rare abundance. In this city, up and down was more important than wide and broad. There was no other place like this: 'In Vos? We're in Vos?'

Starscream's optics narrowed 'why, did you expect to be somewhere else?'  
The jet rose from the platform in one smooth motion, wings moving up in irritation. He made an annoyed gesture, as if asking 'What now?!' and Megatron stared at his arms. There were no missiles. As there was no trace of the decepticon brand on his polished chest plates.  
The cannon powered down. He remembered it all: this room, this mech, this gloomy lilac morning. It wasn't a dream. It was reminiscence.

Long ago, the seeker sneaked the dawning decepticon leader into his room in one of Vos towers. Megatron didn't fear to be captured and surrendered to enforcers - Vos rationes had just been cut thirty percent and there was little love lost between vosians and the Senate. So he took an offer of a temporary stay and possible alliance discussion. He remembered every word from this fateful talk about their mutual use and the future of Cybertron without the Senate. They talked, they reached an agreement, they sealed it as was the vosian custom. What was Soundwave trying to tell him by bringing this memory up now? Was he still asleep?

/I do not enjoy being toyed with, Soundwave/ - he tried to comm but the commlink was dead.  
Megatron turned around searching for anything that would give away Soundwave's presence 'Get out of my processor!' he hissed.

Starscream tilted his head aside and a familiar sneer distorted his face plates. 'You are delusional' - he said in a way of accusation, 'and here I thought you have a chance to beat the system'  
There were no signs. Megatron regained his composure. Soundwave wanted him to re-live this moment? Fine. He would. And then he would make sure his third gets a proper punishment for invading his processor. Now… back to the script.

'I will beat the system, if you join me. I will kill every single Senator, disband their enforcers and build an empire that Cybertron had never seen before. A society, where everyone gets the respect they deserve, where courage, strength and loyalty get rewarded. I will put an end to endless lies and deception. There will be no oppression. There will be justice, equal for towers and mines. Look out, Starscream' - Megatron gestured toward the high window and the jet's head jerked to look there involuntarily – the morning was grim and gloomy, Towers barely shining with occasional lights, as the energon crisis affected even the mightiest of the aerial city.

Starscream avoided looking out lately.

'What you see is a world on a verge of dying, brought here by greed and cruelty and lies. This needs to change. It cries out, Starscream. It calls for those strong enough take the power over it and make things right. And this I will do. The only question is: will you stand beside me? Do you have what it takes to wield this power?

There is the deep voice filled this spacious room and reverberated against Starscream's sensitive wings. As Megatron spoke, each word cut deep into the seeker's mind and imprinted there in chiseled glyphs. Megatron never once said the word 'glory' but it was printed all over his vision. Like a glitchmouse in front of a wyrm, frozen and mesmerized, the seeker jet made a careful step forward, then one more. He had to reset his vocalizer before his voice sounded clear: 'I..I will join you'

Triumph flashed in Megatron's optics. Everything was as it already had been. An unwanted memory surfaced:  
_'Starscream?'  
Soundwave shook his helm 'This one: new'_

Did this strange conversation really happen? Was it all just part of the dream?  
With a half-smile that could send an enforcer squad into "a strategic retreat", the soon-to-be-Lord Megatron pulled his soon-to-be-air-commander closer. The jet trembled at the touch, and didn't resist. Soundwave wanted a show? Let him watch!


	7. Chapter 7

Consciousness returned in a snap and Megatron found himself online on a wide berth, residual taste of high-grade fading into nothing. The warlord onlined his optics and looked at the familiar ceiling of his Darkmount chamber. It was still dark, but few red rays illuminating black skies indicated the sun would be up soon.

He tentatively reached out with a servo, but the place beside him was empty. Frowning, he sat up. How dared the spy leave while he was off?!

The berth looked undisturbed, the room empty and neat. No signs of anybody's presence. The warlord maximized perception on the audials. His might be not the finest or most powerful, but when maxed out, he could hear the entire Darkmount.

And there was dead silence save for the soft noise of his own systems.

Anxious now, Megatron looked down at his own chassis. No paint transfers. He ran internal diagnostics. He had no contact for at least... for too long.

Had it all been a dream - the Fall of Iacon? Soundwave's revelations? Their fight and everything after? Was it just another reminiscence like remembering Starscream and Vos had been? Had he been dreaming all this time?

Did Soundwave induce this dream? What for?

/Soundwave?/

There was only silence.

/Starscream? Comm shift? Anyone?!/

There was only silence.

Reality caught up with him abruptly and nearly crushed his mind under its weight. An angry roar tore free from within and echoed through empty halls of his lifeless fortress. He was alone. They had all abandoned him! Left him on this tomb of a planet they once called home. Wait, no! He had ordered them to leave, but it still hurt they obeyed so easily.

It was true that he was losing his mind. Dark energon destabilized his spark, affected his thought process. His instability was becoming a hindrance to their Cause. But yet it hurt his spark to be so easily discarded.

Megatron grind his dentas. If he was to lose his mind, he definitely preferred to die and take the Prime with him. Destroy the autobots here, while there was no chance they escape or receive reinforcements. There was no hope for them on Cybertron or for Cybertron itself.

By his orders last remnants of energon were used to fill the tanks of Nemesis as the last decepticons left for the stars in search for an energy source and possibly a hope for a future after they wipe out autobot refugees.

Starscream gave only a token argument to his decision to stay behind, the joy of being left in charge of the entire faction too great to effectively hide. Megatron dismissed all his half-hearted objections with an impatient flick of his hand.

'Your logic is...arguable' - Shockwave said and his antennae shifted 'Once an energy source is discovered, we will check on you. The process may be reversible'.

Megatron didn't reply. They all knew that by the time that might happen, he would be either dead or insane.

Soundwave was staring at him so intently, that he could feel the telepath's gaze even though the spy's optics were hidden behind a glossy visor. Neither a word nor a comm came from the quiet mech. Yet his silence relayed way more than any words would.

'Go.' - was all their Lord said.

He didn't linger to watch the ship rise and fly away - he turned and walked off as soon as they reached Nemesis, but the silent gaze was still with him, even when the ship left Cybertron's orbit.

It had been a while back and he was keeping himself busy since, using his anger and fury to keep the madness at bay. Eleven autobots that were still on Cybertron, including Optimus, were now reduced to four, their energon used to sustain him. He couldn't afford staying his shots for the sake of saving the energy. However scarce energon was, time was more precious still. He had to take down the Prime before darkness fully claimed him.

Was it by chance, or by Unicron's benevolence, but he had barely suffered any physical damage so far. But darkness was lurking in the outskirts of his systems - a distant hum, a constant drill into his thoughts, and during recharge it claimed him completely, trapping him in the labyrinth of reminiscence and illusion. Sometimes they were even happy, those dreams. Every time he onlined it was getting harder to recognize a dream from reality.

He was alone. Such was the reality.

Cybertron's artificial sun cast red light upon silent towers of Kaon as he looked down from his spacious chamber in Darkmount at the tomb of his city.

To autobots, or to space itself, but he lost everyone. It didn't matter now, that autobots lost just as many. Even if he won this last fight, there was no future here. Somewhere beyond Kaon few remaining autobots were desperately licking their wounds now. Foolish bots! Eventually, scraplets will have them all. There was no way off the planet, not enough energy to fuel a space engine not to mention a space bridge.

Megatron looked straight at the sun. He had no desire to postpone the outcome.

The decepticon leader activated the commlink again, changing its frequency to high range used by both factions.

/Let's finish it. Come to Darkmount. Alone./

Three hundred seventy four steps up from his chambers to the top view platform of Darkmount usually took less than a breem to cover. Now he took time, giving each of these steps a split click of his attention and a look. Once up, Megatron sat on his throne and settled to wait, optics locked on the sun, his only moving companion remaining, as it made it's slow progress above.

He knew Optimus would not come alone, but it didn't matter. The more the merrier.


End file.
